WESTERN HEIGHTS / LANDSCAPED BARRIERS

Motion - The Western Heights neighborhood within Council District Ten is bounded by Western Avenue on the East, Washington Boulevard on the North, Arlington on the West and the Santa Monica Freeway to the South. This is an historic neighborhood with significant cultural and historic resources. The Western Heights neighborhood is also an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone with unique housing characteristics and strong community residents and families. Due in part to the proximity of Western Heights to the Santa Monica Freeway and large arterial streets, this area experiences unsafe cut-through vehicular traffic, which travels at speeds in excess of 45 miles per hour. Many young children live in this neighborhood, and several accidents have occurred due to unsafe speeds on the residential streets. In addition, this neighborhood has also experienced significant crime (burglary and gun violence) with easy "get away" access to the freeway. Sections 21101 and 21101.4 of the California Vehicle Code allow for the closure of a street when it is determined that the street "has an unsafe volume of vehicular traffic and a significant incidence of crime," and allow for the prohibition of "entry to, or exit from, or both, from any street by means of islands, curbs, traffic barriers, or other roadway design features. . ." The conditions currently existing within the Western Heights neighborhood satisfy the requirements of the Vehicle Code. The Western Heights neighborhood has performed and presented a survey with several options for improving safety and security in the area. The option below is well supported. HEREBY MOVE that the Council ADOPT the following recommendations, subject to the approval of the Mayor: Authorize the Department of Transportation to permit the Western Heights Neighborhood Association, at its cost, to install and maintain landscaped traffic barriers, for the purpose of curbing cut-through vehicular traffic and crime in the Western Heights neighborhood, at the following intersections: 1. 20th Street at Manhattan Place (eastern side of intersection) 2. 20th Street at Arlington (eastern side of intersection) 3. 21st Street at Arlington (eastern side of intersection) 4. Cimarron at 20th Street (northern side of intersection) Authorize the Department of Transportation to assist the Western Heights Neighborhood Association with technical expertise, exact placement analysis, cost estimates and other internal expertise that my be required by the Department in order to allow the installation of the landscaped barriers by the neighborhood.

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